The Colony Hospital
by sushigal007
Summary: In which the Doctor and Zoe get Jamie to a hospital on the planet Ghiaccio Quattro and uncover an alien plot to control the people using flu. Follows on from my previous story, The Prison Beneath The Sea.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The atmosphere was tense upon the TARDIS as it flew through time and space. Inside, the Doctor stood at the controls, seemingly unaware of the sea water he was dripping all over the floor. His companion, Zoe Heriot, was busy reading all the medical texts she could find in some vain hope that she would be able to use the knowledge to treat their friend Jamie, who was lying unconscious on a bed in the room after being beaten up by the inmates of Prison Base Fourteen. Unfortunately, learning how to deliver a baby or administer the Heimlich Manoeuvre was wasted knowledge at that moment in time.

After what felt like eternity, the central column ground to a halt. The Doctor activated the scanner and gazed harshly at the screen. After a second, he began to smile. "Oh good girl," he said fondly, patting the console. "She's brought us just where we wanted to be."

"A hospital?" Zoe said hopefully, looking up from the triangular bandage she was trying unsuccessfully to tie around Jamie's broken arm.

"Yes. The hospital on Ghiaccio Quattro, to be precise. It's an Earth colony, very peaceful, but with marvellous medical facilities," the Doctor told her, still affectionately patting the TARDIS console.

"That's great. Now come and help me, will you?" Zoe asked brusquely. "He's far too heavy for me to carry alone."

The Doctor and Zoe looped their arms around the unconscious boy and between them, they managed to drag his dead weight out of the TARDIS.

Once outside, Zoe felt like patting the TARDIS too, for she had landed them directly outside a set of double door with the words 'Accident and Emergency' emblazoned above them. They dragged Jamie inside, causing enough noise and commotion for the woman behind the desk to drop her novel and race to help them.

"Our friend has been attacked, he needs help," the Doctor told her before she could say anything.

"He's had some morphine, but nothing else," Zoe added, stretching gratefully as a medic appeared and loaded Jamie onto a gurney.

"We'll need some details," the receptionist said, taking her place behind the desk once more. "Name?"

"The Doctor," the Doctor replied. "And you?"

Zoe hit him on the arm. "She means Jamie's name, Doctor! James Robert McCrimmon," she said to the receptionist. The Doctor pouted and rubbed his arm.

"He's not on file," the receptionist said after a few seconds.

"No, he wouldn't be. We're travellers, you see," the Doctor explained. "We were travelling when he was attacked. We knew you had a good hospital so we came here. It is a very lovely hospital," he added appreciatively, looking around at the pale blue walls and soft lighting.

"Age?"

"That's a very personal question. Er, I mean, nineteen," the Doctor corrected hastily as Zoe glared at him.

"He has no allergies, he's not on any medication, he has no pre-existing conditions and he had porridge for breakfast," Zoe interrupted. "Is that enough? Can we see him now?"

The receptionist looked at the young girl's worried face and took pity on her. "I'll go and see what the doctors are doing, but it's likely that it will be some time before you can see him. Maybe you'd like to go and change?"

The Doctor and Zoe glanced down at the puddle of water beneath them. "Yes, yes, I suppose we should," the Doctor said apologetically, absent-mindedly wringing his handkerchief out on to the floor. "Come on Zoe."

Half an hour later and dressed in clothes that didn't drip, Zoe paced the console room, waiting for the Doctor to reappear. She was just about to write him a note and leave when he appeared in the doorway, dressed in exactly the same clothes. Zoe wondered if he'd flung them in the tumble dryer or if he really did have several identical outfits.

"Shall we go then?" he asked with a small smile. The two of them left the TARDIS and walked back into the hospital.

The receptionist glanced up at them and nodded in recognition. "Your friend is still being treated at the moment. Would you like me to fetch a doctor for you."

The Doctor nodded. "That would be most kind of you." He walked past the desk and sat in one of the chairs in the waiting room beyond.

Zoe followed behind him, but before she could take a seat, a doctor appeared. He coughed and smiled nervously at them. "Hi, I'm Doctor Sandhu. I've been dealing with your friend, James…"

"Jamie," Zoe corrected. "Is he OK? Can we see him yet?"

"I'm afraid you can't see him at the moment," Doctor Sandhu said apologetically. "Our x-ray's showed that your friend has a ruptured spleen. He's been taken to surgery."

Zoe gasped and clutched at the Doctor's sleeve. The Doctor patted her hand and looked at Doctor Sandhu. "How long before we can see him?"

"Er…" Doctor Sandhu glanced at his watch. "Not too long now. As soon as he's out of theatre, I'll come and take you to him."

Zoe sank into the seat next to the Doctor, looking stunned. "This is my fault, I should have gone with him," she said weakly.

"Don't think that," the Doctor said sternly. "If it's anyone's fault, it's the prisoners, not yours."

Zoe didn't say anything. Logically, she knew he was right. But she'd stopped blindly relying on logic a while ago and even though she knew that she wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop it, she still couldn't help but feel guilty about what had happened to Jamie.

To take her mind off it, she reached over and picked up a magazine.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It felt like forever, but when the Doctor glanced at the clock, only forty minutes had passed since Doctor Sandhu had left. He had reappeared and was smiling, which was always a good sign when somebody came to inform you that they'd finished meddling with your friend's guts.

He got to his feet, quickly followed Zoe. "He's out of surgery and stable. Follow me," Doctor Sandhu instructed. He spun around led them down a network of pleasantly decorated corridors, up a flight of stairs and past a nurses station to a small and sunny room. Inside, on a clinical but comfortable looking bed, lay Jamie, groggy and bruised, but awake. More importantly, alive.

"Oh Jamie! How do you feel?" Zoe asked, rushing over to his side. She made to hug him, but stopped when she noticed a plastic cast on his arm and sat on the edge of the bed instead.

Jamie smiled weakly at her. "Ahm fine. A wee bit sore, but ah'll live." He looked at the Doctor. "What happened t' the prisoners?"

"Well we didn't exactly stay to find out, I'm afraid," the Doctor admitted. "But we did let the authorities know. Hopefully they were able to catch them when they surfaced."

Jamie looked slightly disappointed. "Y' mean they could just get away? Och, Doctor!"

"They're very conspicuous fellows, if they did get away, it's doubtful they'd go far," the Doctor reassured him. "We were much more concerned with getting you seen to."

"I told ye, I'm fine." Jamie looked down at the plastic wrapping on his arm. "Well, OK, almost fine."

Zoe reached over and poked him lightly in the chest. He yelped and jerked away. "Liar," she said with a slightly hysterical giggle.

"All right, so I'm not feeling mah best," he admitted. "But I am feeling better that I was. When can we go?"

"When the doctor says so," Zoe replied. "Not that Doctor," she added as he glanced hopefully towards the scruffy man.

"She's right, Jamie," the Doctor said. "You've been through a rough time of it and you need to rest."

"For how long?" Jamie asked.

"Oh not too long." The Doctor indicated towards the plastic cast. "There's nanogenes on the inside of the cast. Little robots," he added, seeing the confusion on the boy's face. "They'll heal your arm a lot quicker than it would on its own. It should only take a day or two."

"There's robots in mah arm?!" Jamie exclaimed in disbelief. "Are y' pulling mah leg?"

Zoe examined the cast with interest. "That's fascinating. Back on the Wheel, nanotechnology was still in experimental stages. When are we?"

"Forty-one seventeen," the Doctor said promptly. "At least, according to the magazine in the waiting room. It could be a few years later than that though, hospitals are notorious for only stocking old magazines in their waiting areas."

Zoe looked surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Och, don't ask him, he never knows when we are," Jamie said.

The Doctor looked huffy. "I do too know when we are! Close enough, anyway!"

At that moment, a nurse appeared in the doorway. "Hello, sorry to bother you, but visiting hours will be over in five minutes."

"OK, thank you," the Doctor smiled at her. "Well, Zoe, I suppose we should be off then." He held out a hand and helped her off the bed. "We'll be back tomorrow, bright and early," he told Jamie. "We'll see you then. But now, you need to rest."

"Is it safe here?" Jamie asked.

The Doctor smiled reassuringly "Oh yes, perfectly safe."

Jamie flopped back against his pillows with a scowl. "Aye, I've heard that one before an' all. What about these wee robots? Are they safe too?"

"Safe as can be," the Doctor reassured him. "They're simply programmed to rebuild bone tissue. As soon as they're done, they'll stop working and your body will get rid of them. That's all there is to it."

The Doctor and Zoe left him marvelling at the thought of tiny robots mending his arm. "Well, shall we stay in the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked once they were outside. "Or shall we see if we can find a hotel in the town nearby?"

"Do you have any local currency?" Zoe asked.

The Doctor patted the pockets of his baggy coat. "I should have, somewhere. Ah yes…" He delved into a pocket and pulled out a card. "Oh no, that's my WH Smiths gift card. I should have some cash in the TARDIS."

Zoe smiled. "Then let's stay in a hotel. I could do with a change of scenery. And while you're looking for money, I want to check something on the TARDIS data banks."

"Oh yes?" The Doctor looked at his companion in interest. "What's that?"

"Well there was something strange about that magazine I was reading-"

"Do you mean the recipe for roast cheef?" the Doctor interrupted. "It's made from a genetically modified animal called a chow; a mixture between a chicken and a cow. Apparently they coped better with space travel than their predecessors. It's rather tasty with pepper sauce."

Zoe smiled and shook her head. "No, not that, although it does sound interesting. No, there was a health section in the middle. It had an article about influenza."

The Doctor looked puzzled. "So?"

"Well I could be mistaken, but when I was looking through all the medical files earlier on, I'm sure I read that flu had been wiped out in the thirty-third century," Zoe said earnestly. "But according to that article, there have been several outbreaks in the past year of primary influenza pneumonia. Last month, twenty-thousand people on this planet caught it. I need to check the dates again to be sure, but if I'm right and this really is the forty-second century, there shouldn't be flu on this planet," she finished breathlessly.

"I thought you were supposed to have a photographic memory?" the Doctor asked, looking amused.

"Yes, well, I was a little bit pre-occupied earlier," Zoe said in a slightly snooty tone. "All I got was a blurry photograph with a finger in the corner."

The Doctor couldn't help but laugh.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"There you go, I was right." Zoe jabbed the screen triumphantly. "See, after flu vaccinations were given to the whole Earth population in the thirtieth century, the virus stopped being able to mutate and eventually, they managed to destroy it completely."

The Doctor looked over her shoulder, intrigued. "Yes, you're right. And whenever Earth sent out colonists, they were screened for illnesses and decontaminated. There's no way someone could have brought it here." He looked thoughtful. "No way except for research reasons."

The petite girl looked up at him. "Do you think it's possible that someone accidentally infected this place?"

"It's certainly possible," he said slowly. "It seems unlikely though. If they brought a strain of flu here, is stands to reason that they would've also brought the vaccine for it. Once it got out, it would be relatively simple to immunise the population. After all, there aren't actually a lot of people here. Compared to Earth, at any rate." He began to pace the console room. "There are only three settlements on this planet; this main town, one coastal town and a small town further inland. The population is only about one million."

"But even so, it's possible they didn't manage to vaccinate everyone," Zoe said. "It would only take one person who thought they didn't need it and the virus would mutate."

The Doctor drummed his fingers against the console, deep in thought. "It certainly is an interesting puzzle," he murmured. Then he straightened up. "Well, we could always ask at the hospital lab tomorrow," he suggested. "It's the only laboratory on Ghiaccio Quattro."

"Well," Zoe said slowly. "It would be interesting…"

"And until then, we'll find a nice hotel to stay in," he added, proudly holding aloft some triangular coins. "We could even try some cheef."

/\/\/\

Visiting hours weren't until 10 am, so the next morning, after a breakfast of roat and purple, which turned out to be jam on a strange, biscuity bread, the Doctor and Zoe returned to the hospital in search of the lab. The research lab was down in the basement, next to the morgue. The Doctor knocked on the door and after a few seconds, a skinny technician answered.

"Can I 'elp you?" he asked cheerfully.

"I certainly hope so." The Doctor beamed at him. "We were wondering if we could have a look around your lab."

The technician looked doubtful. "Dunno if it's really allowed…"

"I'm the Doctor, by the way," the Doctor added quickly. In his experience, people were always a lot happier to let you in places if they thought you were actually allowed to be there. "And this is Zoe, she's a student of mine."

The tech looked at Zoe, who smiled innocently at him. "All right. Come on in. I'm Reg, senior lab tech. Well, only lab tech today." He stood aside and held the door open. "So where are you from then, Doc? Did Earth Control send you?" he asked inquisitively, making to sit down.

"Er, well, we're just travellers really," the Doctor said vaguely, looking around admiringly at the shiny benches housing complicated looking microscopes and wafer-thin computer screens. One was showing a rotating x-ray outline of a human torso, another was displaying gene sections of a chow liver. The Doctor longed for a closer look.

Reg missed his seat and wound up on the floor. "Travellers?! And you came here?! Are you mad?!"

Zoe held out a hand to help him up. "No. Why do ask?"

"Well, you're stuck here now," Reg said dramatically. "The planet's under quarantine. We've got the flu."

The Doctor and Zoe glanced at each other. "That's actually what we wanted to talk to you about," Zoe told him. She climbed up onto a stool in front of the screen showing the liver.

Reg looked blankly at her. "What do you want to know?"

The Doctor stroked a microscope lovingly. "As much as possible. Where did it come from, how virulent it is, how it's mutated."

Reg continued to look blank. "Mutated? It doesn't mutate."

"Are you sure?" the Doctor asked, dragging his attention away from the microscope.

"Sure I'm sure. Look." He moved over to the monitor by Zoe and touched the screen a few times. "Here's a DNA breakdown of the spring outbreak and one from the outbreak last month. See?" He sat back so Zoe and the Doctor could see the screen clearly. "Totally identical."

"But that's impossible," Zoe said, puzzled.

The Doctor looked thoughtful. "Not completely impossible," he murmured. "So if it's the same strain all the time, why didn't the vaccine work?"

"Vaccine?" Reg looked puzzled. "There isn't one."

"There isn't one?" the Doctor asked sharply.

Reg shook his head. "No. Trust me, if there was, we'd have used it once we heard about Colony Eyesenck Seven."

Zoe was intrigued. "What about it?"

"They had the flu two years ago," Reg explained. "One hundred and thirty-thousand people died from it."

"Oh that's awful!" she exclaimed.

Reg looked around and then leaned in closer. "That's not all," he whispered. "It's officially denied, but apparently Earth Control went there with a bunch of medics to help out and everyone had vanished." He snapped his fingers, making Zoe jump. "One and a half million people gone, just like that!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

In another part of the hospital, another technician was gazing at a computer screen in amazement. On it, a 3-D, multicoloured double helix spun slowly round. Occasionally, segments of it would light up and separate, moving to the left hand side of the screen. It was these segments that had filled him with marvel. He beckoned towards another technician who was sat on the other side of the room in front of a similar computer screen. "Harry, come look at this!"

Harry, a small man of oriental appearance, sighed and walked over. "What it is, Don? I'm busy."

Don poked one of the highlighted DNA segments. "Check this out!" he said excitedly. "What d'you make of that?"

Harry squinted. "Well obviously it's… what the hell is that?"

"It's a gene for green eyes," Don said proudly.

"You're joking."

"Nope." Don shook his head. "I had to go back to the twenty-eighth century to find it, but that's definitely it. And look at this one." He touched another segment, which moved to the centre of the screen and enlarged. "Believe it or not, but that's an inactive gene for colour blindness."

"Seriously?" Intrigued, Harry pulled up a chair. "Where's this DNA from?"

"A new patient, brought in yesterday," the other technician told him. "Someone called James McCrimmin or something. The bloodwork is just… bizarre. I had a nurse draw it three times. Then I went and got it myself. The guy wasn't pleased. And if you think that's odd, take a look at his internal organs." He touched the screen and the double helix vanished. A 3-D view of the human body appeared on screen. Don zoomed in and pointed to the intestines. "See that?"

"What is it?"

"It's called an app-un-dicks," Don said slowly. "They were engineered out of the body in the middle of the twenty-third century. It doesn't do anything. It shouldn't BE there."

"Where did this guy come from?" Harry wondered aloud.

Don shrugged. "Maybe he was frozen in a mountain for two thousand years?"

"He is a time traveller."

The monotonous voice made the two technicians jump. They spun around and faced the metallic, humanoid figure behind them. "This boy is known to us."

"Oh that's good, because he's not known to Earth Control," Don said, regaining his composure. "Time traveller, you say?"

"Yes. He travels with an older man called the Doctor. He is a dangerous man."

"Most doctor's are," Harry muttered. "Laser-scalpel wielding maniacs." Don stifled a laugh.

The metallic figure ignored them. "Give me audio."

Don reached forward and flicked a switch. The room suddenly filled with voices. "It's Emmerdale," he said after a few seconds. "Channel seventy-four twelve. He's watching telly."

"Is he alone?"

The technician listened for a few more seconds. "There doesn't appear to be any other audio in the room. He's still in the hospital, I can check on camera if you like."

"Do it."

Don pressed a few buttons on a thin board and a grid of pictures appeared on screen. He clicked one and the picture filled the screen. "Here he is. He's alone, all right. Well, visiting hours aren't for another half hour though-"

"Activate one of the duty nurses and bring him here. We must question him."

/\/\/\

Down in the lab, the conversation had moved on to chow livers. Reg was showing the Doctor a slide under the microscope and explaining how he was trying to create a flu vaccine by infecting chows with flu. So far all he'd gotten were chows with sore throats.

In the meantime, Zoe was exploring the lab with interest, her logical mind intrigued by all the equipment on display. It made the scientific equipment on the Wheel look as technical as rocks and slings. She found herself wondering if she really could return to the Wheel after seeing all this futuristic equipment that wouldn't even be developed in her lifetime. Then she wondered what it must be like for Jamie. After all, back in his time, they hadn't even invented airplanes, let alone microfibre touch-screen monitors.

She wandered around a corner and found herself in front of a large window that looked into an empty, sterile room. Her photographic memory had memorised the hospital layout and she quickly realised that she was looking into the morgue next door.

While she looked, a male nurse suddenly appeared, pulling along a hospital bed. He stopped in front of the window and stepped away, allowing her a clear view of the patients face.

Jamie.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

For a few seconds, Zoe could only stare in disbelief. The world began to tilt sideways and she grabbed the windowsill to keep from falling over.

This wasn't right. Jamie had faced Quarks, Ice Warriors and Cybermen. He couldn't be dead, not from what? A surgical complication? She didn't want to believe it, but she couldn't ignore the facts; it was definitely Jamie and he was definitely in the morgue.

She stepped backwards. She needed to tell the Doctor. She needed to find out what had happened. She… was going to be sick.

"Zoe?" The Doctor looked up in surprise as she bolted past him and Reg and out of the door. Concerned, he followed her across the hallway to the ladies room. He hesitated outside, then knocked on the door. "Zoe? Are you all right?"

A retching cough told him she wasn't. The Doctor looked around quickly, and then pushed the door open.

Inside, he found Zoe knelt on the floor in front of a toilet. She stumbled to her feet and collapsed into his arms, crying undignified, snotty tears. "Zoe dear, what's wrong?!"

It was almost a minute before she managed to choke out "J-Jamie…"

"What about Jamie?" the Doctor asked urgently.

Zoe pointed miserably towards the door. "He-he's in t-the… the…" She couldn't force the last word out, but she didn't need to. The Doctor had realised what the problem was. Immediately, he ran out of the toilets, past the baffled Reg and slammed through the morgue's double doors. He skidded to a halt in the middle of the room, panting slightly.

There was no-one there.

He spun around in a complete circle, taking in the entire room, but his initial observation had been correct; the room was empty.

"What's up?" Reg asked from behind him, making him jump.

"Zoe said she saw…" The Doctor trailed off, baffled. "Well, someone."

"There's no-one here."

"Yes, I can see that," the Doctor snapped, stamping his foot childishly. He spun around and left the morgue.

Zoe was stood outside the ladies room, wiping her blotchy face with a tissue and sniffling, not quite daring to move to a position that allowed her to see into the morgue. She looked up at the Doctor as he appeared in the corridor and frowned at the puzzled expression on his face. "W-what is it?"

"Er… there's nobody in there," he admitted.

"What?!" She gaped at the Doctor in confusion, then straightened up and marched across the corridor. Without hesitating, she pushed open the doors and walked in. The Doctor followed her and watched as she spun around, torn between confusion, relief and anger. "But he was here! He was right here, in front of the window!"

"You must have been mistaken," Reg said, trying to sound soothing but only managing condescending.

The Doctor quickly stepped forward and placed a hand on Zoe's arm as she made to step forward and perhaps stab the technician through the heart with a laser-scalpel, or maybe just stamp on his foot. Reg seemed to realise that he'd made some sort of faux-pas, and stepped backwards quickly, holding his hands out apologetically. "I mean, it gives people a bit of a shock, seeing the morgue. First time I looked at a body, I could swear it was moving."

"I'm not prone to such fanciful thoughts," Zoe said coldly.

"Well, that's quite true, but there's no denying the facts, is there, Zoe?" the Doctor said quietly. "Jamie is not here."

"But he WAS," Zoe protested angrily. "Oh Doctor, surely you don't really think I'm imaging things too?!"

"No," the Doctor said quickly. "It's entirely possibly that you did see Jamie here. However, he is not here now. And as he is not here now, I think we'd better find out where he is now. Once we're certain that he's not…" He hesitated, not wanting to voice the horrible possibility that Jamie could be dead.

"That he's OK?" Zoe supplied.

He nodded. "Once we've reassured ourselves that he's all right, we'll find out what's going on here."

He stepped back and smiled at Reg. "Well, it was very nice to meet you and your lab. We must be off now though. Bye!" And with a cheery wave, the two of them disappeared.

Reg waved limply at their retreating backs. Then as he turned to return to his lab, he realised that he'd never actually found out where they were from.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

A nurse looked up in surprise as the Doctor and Zoe zipped past her. "Hey! Excuse me!"

They ignored her and skidded to a halt outside Jamie's room. "He's not there," Zoe whispered fearfully.

The Doctor looked around and spotted the nurse. "Excuse me, do you happen to know where our friend is?"

"He's gone down to x-ray," she said, looking irritated. "And anyway, visiting hours aren't for another five minutes."

"Oh. Terribly sorry." He smiled at her and leaned back against the wall.

"I'll have to ask you to wait outside," she added sternly, crossing her arms.

"For five minutes?" Zoe looked incredulous. "Is there really any point?"

"Come on, Zoe," the Doctor said hastily, taking her by the arm. "You can use the time to wash your face."

With that, Zoe instantly dashed off to the nearest bathroom mirror to inspect the damage her crying had caused. The Doctor found a chair in the corridor and sat down to wait.

Zoe rejoined him just as a male nurse passed him. She poked him sharply in the side, making him jump. "He was in the morgue too," she whispered. "Shall I go and talk to him?"

"If you like. But be subtle." He watched her jog after the nurse, then stood up and began walking in the opposite direction, back to the ward. This time he was unchallenged. And Jamie was back in his room. Unconscious and a little bruised, but undoubtedly alive. He took the seat next to bed and settled back, waiting for the boy to wake up.

A minute or so later, Zoe stomped into the room. "He said I must have been mistaken, he doesn't go near the morgue because it gives him the creeps. Men!"

"I thought I told you to be subtle?" the Doctor asked, amused.

"Subtle is slow. He didn't seem to mind, though." She held out a piece of paper. "He gave me his HHPC frequency code, whatever that is."

"Do y' mind keeping your voice down? I'm trying t' sleep."

The Doctor and Zoe jumped at the voice. Zoe recovered and jumped onto the edge of the bed. "Jamie! You're awake! You're alive!"

Jamie sat up and smiled weakly at her. "Of course I'm alive, it'd take more than a brawl t' take down a McCrimmon." He frowned suddenly. "Are y' all right? Your face is all blotchy and disgusting."

The Doctor tried not to laugh at Zoe's outraged expression. "Jamie, do you happen to know where you were about… ooh, twenty minutes ago?"

"Aye. In bed."

"And do you know where the bed was?"

Jamie looked baffled. "I don't know. I was asleep."

"Oh JAMIE!" Zoe exclaimed in annoyance.

"What?!" He looked from Zoe to the Doctor in confusion. "Wasnae I here? Where was I?"

"You were in the morgue," Zoe said.

"Oh aye?" Jamie looked back at her again. "What's that?"

"It's where they store dead bodies."

"But I'm no' dead!"

The Doctor smiled. "We know that. That's why we're going to have a look around as soon as they let you go."

Jamie sat up straighter. "Well go get them to let me go! I dinnae like not knowing where I am."

"Sounds like a plan." Zoe leaned over and pressed the call button on the side of the bed.

A few seconds later a nurse arrived. "Can I help?"

Jamie gawped at the doorway. "So you press that wee button and they just come? Why didnae y' tell me that yesterday?!"

"Can he be discharged yet?" the Doctor asked, waving a hand at Jamie to shut him up.

"I'll go and ask the doctor," she said and left.

A moment later, Doctor Sandhu appeared. He glanced at the screen of a small hand held computer and smiled. "Your X-rays are fine. We'll get those casts off and you can go."

/\/\/\

"So what's the plan then?" Jamie asked as they walked through hospital corridors.

"We go down to the morgue and look around," the Doctor said cheerfully.

"You mean… just walk in?"

"Why not? We did earlier." He stopped outside the doors. "Here we are," he told Jamie, and pushed the door open. And stopped.

Inside, an oriental man looked up from the autopsy table. "Who the hell are you?"

"Ah." The Doctor smiled charmingly. "I'm the Doctor. Sorry to interrupt. Do you mind if I have a quick look around?"

"Yes, I do," he said crossly. "I'm in the middle of a flu autopsy. It's very dangerous."

"A flu autopsy?" The Doctor narrowed his eyes. "Then why aren't you wearing a mask?"

The man looked silently at him for a second. And behind the Doctor, Jamie suddenly cried out in pain and collapsed.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

A little while later, Harry returned to the room with the computers in. "Thanks for that distraction," he said to Don, taking a seat next to him.

Don shrugged. "You're welcome. You idiot."

"Hey, I'm not a coroner, how was I supposed to know?" Harry glared at his fellow technician.

"Common sense? You wear a mask during the outbreak, of course you're gonna wear one if you're cutting someone's lungs out."

"Yeah. Well. He's gone for now anyway." Harry began flicking through screens showing live camera feed of the hospital and switched on his earpiece . "He's making that James guy in the skirt have a CAT scan now."

"The Doctor will not be put off for long."

The voice made Harry and Don jump violently again. "It's all right, I'm listening to the audio," Harry said quickly, spinning around to face the figure standing behind them. "If he decides to come back, we'll know and we can stop him again."

"The Doctor is a stubborn man. He will not stop until he has settled his curiosity. We must put our plan into action tonight."

Don and Harry exchanged concerned glances. "But we haven't got herd control yet," Don protested. "It's only at eighty percent."

"That will have to be sufficient. Begin herd control and conversion one hour after the hospital closes."

"But… shouldn't just wait and see what the Doctor does?" Don asked desperately. "I mean, now his friend isn't a patient anymore, he might just go away."

If it could, the figure would've laughed in his face. Instead it simply repeated, "he will not stop until he has settled his curiosity. Maintain surveillance until one hour after the hospital closes. Then we will begin."

/\/\/\

"See, I told y' I was fine. Well, except for when I hit t' floor," Jamie grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Sudden pain in the head which makes you collapse does not equal fine," Zoe argued. "Not stop whining and lie down. You could still have a fractured skull or something from where those thugs attacked you."

Jamie rolled his eyes and flopped back onto the hotel bed. "They said I was fine. I'm fine," he muttered. "I just had a headache. And… fainted or something."

"You certainly chose an unfortunate moment to faint," the Doctor said thoughtfully, pacing the room. "That man was hiding something."

"There was something different about that room as well," Zoe added, sitting on Jamie's legs. "There was a door in the corner this morning but when we went back, there was a filing cabinet in the way. Stop kicking my bum."

"Well get off ma leg then. I broke that ankle yesterday," Jamie complained.

"A door, eh?" The Doctor stopped pacing and looked as his companions. "Maybe that's where you disappeared to, Jamie. I think we should take a look."

Jamie stood up and began walking towards the door.

"I was thinking after dark," the Doctor added. "We'll have dinner first. Jamie?"

Jamie ignored him and opened the door.

Frowning, the Doctor reached over and grabbed his arm. "Jamie, where are you going?"

Zoe jumped to her feet as Jamie shook off the Doctor's grasp and walked out of the door. "Jamie, wait!"

The Doctor ran out of the door after him, then halted in astonishment. All around him, people were walking towards the staircase with vacant expressions, Jamie in the middle of them. "Zoe, stop him!" he ordered, running past her and back into the room.

Zoe shrugged and obediently jumped on Jamie's back. The Highlander seemed utterly oblivious to her, even as she pulled his hair and yelled in his ear. "Stop it, Jamie!"

The Doctor reappeared and threw himself at Jamie's legs, toppling the boy over. "Quick, hold him down," he ordered Zoe, and began wrapping sellotape around his ankles. As soon as he was restrained, Jamie stopped struggling and just lay there, staring into space. "We'd better get him back to the room," the Doctor said. "The floor can't be comfortable.

Between them, they managed to drag Jamie back to their room, without him sustaining too many carpet burns. "What's happened to him?" Zoe panted, dropping the boy unceremoniously onto the bed. "What's happened to all of them?"

"I think I'm beginning to understand a little," the Doctor murmured, looking out of the window. "They're all going to the hospital. And I think they've all been there before."

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked, joining him at the window.

"The flu, Zoe, the flu!" the Doctor exclaimed. "It's a variant of flu that is powerful enough to hospitalise people. I think perhaps the flu outbreaks are being created deliberately simply to get people into the hospital, and once there, they have some kind of… of mind control done! And then they're vaccinated, which would explain why it doesn't have a chance to mutate." He gazed at the crowds of people outside, walking in silence. "And now they've been activated. An entire planet full of mindless people."

"Including Jamie!" Zoe gasped. "We've got to stop it!"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Zoe paced the room while the Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver over Jamie's body. "So what do we do now?" she asked.

The Doctor looked thoughtful. "Shave off one of his eyebrows? Sorry," he added as Zoe shot him a filthy look. "Well, it's not hypnosis. The sonic screwdriver is detecting a radio signal here, so I'm guessing there must be a receiver somewhere on Jamie, controlling him."

"Like those neck controls the Cybermen used on the Wheel?" Zoe suggested.

"Hmm. Yes, possibly. Although there's nothing on his neck," the Doctor said, rolling the boy over slightly. "Oooh, wait a moment!"

"What is it?" Zoe asked, jumping back on the bed.

The Doctor pointed to a small patch of skin behind Jamie's ear. "Look, his hair's been shaved here. And there's a small scar. I have a horrible feeling he's had some sort of control mechanism implanted in his head. Oh dear, Jamie!" He sighed and held the sonic screwdriver over the small bald patch.

"What are you doing?" Zoe asked, leaning forward.

"Well, I can't exactly go poking around in his head, so I'm going to try and block the radio signal," the Doctor explained, switching the screwdriver on.

They both watched Jamie intently. For a few seconds, he continued to stare into space, then suddenly he blinked and focused on them. "Did I faint again?" he asked groggily. Then he frowned and wriggled. "I cannae move mah hands!"

"It's alright, Jamie," the Doctor said soothingly. "You were under control. We didn't want you to get hurt. Zoe, could you get me some scissors?" he asked, helping the Scotsman into a sitting position.

"What do y' mean, under control?" Jamie asked, sitting still as Zoe cut through his bonds. "Is this summat t' do with me no' knowing where I was this morning?"

"I think it could be," the Doctor said. "Now. I can't stop everyone with the sonic screwdriver. We need to stop the signal from transmitting. I think it's safe to assume that it's coming from the hospital. So that's where we need to go."

"Wait, am I going t' be all right?!" Jamie asked urgently.

The Doctor hesitated and glanced at Zoe, who quickly averted her eyes. "Er… of course! Unless they increase the strength of the signal. Which I doubt they'll do," he added hastily as Jamie's eyes widened in horror. "After all, they've got a million people to control, I don't think they'll miss one."

Jamie narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "How are they controlling me?"

"Remote control," the Doctor said innocently. "Now let's get moving, we've got a hospital to investigate."

/\/\/\

The sun was setting as they worked their way through the crowds of people heading towards the hospital. As soon as they were on the hospital grounds, the Doctor ducked down behind a row of parked hovercars and peered over the top.

"Everyone seems to be going through the main entrances. Should we do the same?" Zoe asked. "Blend in?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply, then gasped and ducked lower behind the car. "Oh goodness!"

"It's a Cyberman!" Jamie whispered, clutching at the Doctor's coattails.

Zoe shuffled closer to the two men, trying to make herself as small as possible as the Cyberman in the doorway of the hospital gazed impassively at the line of people walking past him. The Doctor tugged silently on her sleeve and crawled down another row of cars, behind an ambulance and around the corner of the building.

"What are they doing here?!" she hissed furiously.

"Isn't it obvious, Zoe?" the Doctor hissed back. "They're building up an army! It's… it's ingenious! Why covert one or two people at a time and risk being detected, when they can bide their time and then control and convert an entire planet, all at once?!"

"It's awful," Jamie whispered, looking horrified.

"Yes, it's fiendish," the Doctor agreed seriously. "It's dreadful. We need to stop them." He patted Jamie and Zoe on the back. "I'm going to go and cut the power to the hospital. We need to stop them from turning any more of these poor people into Cybermen. I want you two to find out where they're controlling these people from and the go back to the TARDIS and I'll meet you there when I'm done."

Before they could argue, he stood up, opened a window above their heads and slipped through it.

"So… what do y' think, lass?" Jamie asked, turning to look at Zoe. "The window, or the door?"

Zoe pursed her lips thoughtfully. "The door," she said eventually. "We're less likely to be noticed in a crowd."

"Aye, right then." Jamie stood up, held out a hand to Zoe and the two of them quickly moved forward and joined the crowd, wiping their faces clear of any expression and keeping their eyes down.

The Cyberman paid them no attention, although Zoe was sure she'd clenched her fists as she walked by, and Jamie was certain he'd given himself away by glancing at it as they passed. They met each others eyes, and then quickly gazed back at the floor as the crowd carried them into the hospital and up a flight of stairs.

The Cyberman at the top of the stairs also ignored them. Jamie dared look up and spotted the next Cyberman standing in front of the doorway to the operating theatres. Unlike the others, this one was actually paying attention to the crowd and holding some sort of device that blinked with a green light as each person passed it. Jamie hesitated, then discreetly reached out and poked Zoe. "What d'ye think he's doing?" he whispered.

Zoe glanced at him curiously, mouthing "what?"

Before he could repeat himself, the Cyberman moved in front of them. They stared straight ahead. "James McCrimmon, confirmed," the Cyberman droned, and the light on the hand held computer blinked green. Jamie exhaled slowly and stepped forward to follow the crowd.

Zoe made to join him, but the Cyberman suddenly thrust an arm out in front of her. "You are not on record," it said menacingly.

"Um…" Zoe looked up, terrified.

Jamie glanced around, trying to work out whereabouts they were, then grabbed Zoe's hand, pulling her into a doorway just ahead that lead to the paediatric ward. "Quick, through there!" he shouted, pointing across the ward to yet another doorway.

Zoe didn't argue. The two of them dashed across the ward and through the door. A bolt of electricity hit the door as it swung shut, alerting them to the fact that the Cyberman was close behind. She spotted a flight of stairs and moved towards them, only to find Jamie holding her back.

"No' that way, this way," he told her, and yanked her down another set of corridors, these ones free of the controlled people.

"Where are we going?" Zoe shouted as they skidded past the HDU and Haematology departments. A bolt of electricity hissed past her, making her squeak with fright.

"The X-ray department," Jamie shouted back, vaulting over a upturned wheelchair. "Cybermen cannae stand radiation!"

He pulled her around a corner and slammed, full speed, into a set of double doors covered in dire warnings. A loud crash told them the Cyberman had tripped over the wheelchair.

The X-ray department was in darkness and it took Zoe a few seconds to adjust to the light. "How does it work?" she asked once they were both crouched beside the large, hulking machinery.

Jamie looked blankly at her. "I dinnae know. You're the astrophysicist."

"But this machinery is two thousand years more advanced than anything I've used!" she protested. "I don't-"

At that moment the Cyberman crashed through the double doors and halted. Jamie and Zoe froze as the great, metal man slowly pointed the Cyberlaser at them.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Zoe spun around and desperately mashed the buttons on the control panel before Jamie grabbed her by the waist and tackled her to the floor, the momentum sending them both crashing into the opposite wall, behind the X-ray screen.

There was no flash of light or sudden death, and after a few seconds, Jamie dared to peep around the side of the screen. In the doorway, the Cyberman swayed unsteadily, then crashed to the ground, motionless.

"Y' did it!" Jamie cheered. He carefully crept towards the prone Cyberman and snatched the Cyberlaser from the ground. "And now we've got a weapon."

Zoe climbed to her feet and gazed thoughtfully around the room. "It might be dangerous to use that with all the people here… I've got another idea."

"Oh aye?" Jamie asked, examining the Cyberlaser.

"Aye. I mean yes." She walked over to the doorway and flicked on the light. "Hospitals often have portable X-ray machines for patients who can't be moved. If we could find one, we could destroy the Cybermen without harming anyone else." She started opening cupboards hopefully. "Unfortunately, I don't know what they'd look like now. Any ideas?" she asked hopefully.

The Cyberlaser clattered to the floor and Jamie turned to face her, his face blank. Zoe only had time to squeak in shock before he grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the room. "Jamie! Stop it! You can fight it!" she yelled, hitting him with her free hand.

Jamie ignored her and easily dragged her back towards the operating theatres. Zoe struggled valiantly, but the Highlander was a lot bigger and stronger than she was.

Suddenly the lights went out. No emergency lighting came on; the darkness was complete. There was a clatter and a yelp and Jamie let go of her arm.

Realising Jamie had fallen over the wheelchair, Zoe fled as fast as she dared into the blackness, trailing her fingers along the wall to guide her. She brought up the layout of the hospital in her minds eye, and began to make her way towards the north side of the building, where there would be moonlight.

After a few minutes, she found herself in a moonlit locker room. She listened intently for any sounds of pursuit, and then glanced out of the window, wondering what to do next.

Outside, the line of people had ground to a halt. Cybermen were walking around carrying all manner of medical equipment and scanning the citizens. She could just see the TARDIS by the entrance to the Accident and Emergency department and wondered how to get there. There was no way she'd be ale to navigate all the corridors in the darkness without being caught. And she still wanted a portable X-ray machine, just in case.

She sat down on a chair, looking thoughtful. An idea was forming in her head… when she was younger, she'd read a classic book about a nurse investigating comas, in which she managed to find out that someone had tampered with oxygen, by crawling through the ceiling. And surely doctors still had those small pen lights for shining in people's eyes?

She began going through the pockets of lab coats hung along the wall and quickly found what she was looking for. Then, as quietly as possible, she dragged the chair over to the bank of lockers and climbed on top.

The ceiling panel was very easy to lift. She raised her head into the space and flicked on the penlight, hoping that the walls of the room didn't extend to the ceiling. Then she carefully climbed into the small space and lowered the panel back into place.

Crawling through the ceiling space was slow going and a lot harder than she'd imagined. For starters, it was very dusty and she fought to keep herself from sneezing and giving herself away. The penlight wasn't strong enough to light up further than perhaps a metre in front of her and she kept burning herself on the hot pipes.

Suddenly, there was a movement in front of her. A hand reached out of the darkness towards her and she screamed.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"Zoe? Is that you?"

Zoe gasped and directed the penlight at the figure in front of her. "Doctor! You frightened the life out of me!" she hissed.

"Shh." The Doctor held a finger to his lips and listened intently for a few seconds. "Good, it doesn't sound like anyone heard your scream. Let's see where we are, shall we?" He carefully lifted up one of the ceiling tiles and peeped into the darkness. "Could I borrow that little light for a second?" he asked.

Zoe handed it over and he shone it down into the hospital. "Just an examination room," he said eventually and handed the light back. "Now… where's Jamie?"

"He's under their control again," Zoe said unhappily. "I'm sorry, Doctor. They were scanning people as they went past and when he ran away with me, they must have realised he wasn't under their influence."

"Oh bother." The Doctor scowled. "I did so hope they wouldn't spot him among the others. Do you have any idea whereabouts he might be?"

Zoe shook her head. "He tried to take me back to the operating theatres where the Cybermen are when the lights went out. We were near the X-ray department."

"Ah yes… Cybermen can't stand radiation." The Doctor smiled. "I'm impressed."

"I was heading back there to look for a portable X-ray machine," Zoe explained.

"An excellent idea," the Doctor agreed. "Let's go, shall we?"

"Doctor?" Zoe asked after a few minutes of crawling. "How long do you think it will take them to get the power on?"

"Oh… quite a while, I should think," the Doctor replied. "I rewired rather a lot of the circuitry. If anyone tries to restore the power without putting it all back together, they'll get a very nasty shock." He stopped and carefully pulled up another ceiling tile. "Is this the place?"

Zoe shone the light into the darkness and then nodded. "If we move over to the right about three tiles, there's a filing cabinet we can use to climb down."

It didn't take them long to climb down into the room, and the Doctor quickly found several hand held X-ray machines in a cupboard. "I don't know if they'll be strong enough to kill a Cyberman, but they should make them stand well back," the Doctor explained, showing her how to use the controls. "Now, Jamie will be fine for the moment so let's see if we can find out what's in behind that doorway in the morgue."

/\/\/\

After half an hour of crawling, Zoe was sure he had a third degree burn on her left thigh and the Doctor was muttering under his breath about the general uselessness of fortieth century technology as the tiny penlight began to die.

"I think we're close," he whispered, stopping suddenly and putting his ear to the ceiling. "Aaah, I can hear footsteps. Heavy ones. And a voice. Cyberman. And human. Hmm." He crawled carefully over a few tiles and pulled one up.

The room below was very dimly lit, but it was enough for the Doctor to see that it was indeed the morgue. The mystery doorway had been cleared and two Cybermen stood in front of it. One of them was talking to the man who'd been in the morgue earlier. As the Doctor watched, he turned and walked into the room beyond, shutting the door behind him.

The Doctor lowered the ceiling tile back into place and began to crawl quietly towards the general direction of the mystery room. "We're nearly there," he whispered to Zoe. "We'll need the X-ray machines when we get there; there's a man inside and he may try to alert the Cybermen."

Zoe nodded grimly and followed him. A moment later, the Doctor stopped again and lifted up another ceiling tile.

Immediately he knew it was the room they were looking for. Desks lined the walls, topped by large computer monitors, which were still working despite the power cut and showing rolling lists of names and photos. He recognised one of the two men in the room as the one he'd seen a moment earlier.

Slightly more worrying was the Cyberman stood in the centre of the room.

Thoughtfully, the Doctor switched on the portable X-ray he was holding to see if it would have any effect from that distance.

It did. Immediately, the Cyberman let out a gurgling cry, then froze and toppled over backwards. The two men looked around in surprise at the commotion, and then jumped back as the two Cybermen from the morgue burst into the room. With seconds, they too had keeled over dead.

Once the immediate threat was out of the way, the Doctor climbed out of the ceiling onto a desk. "Hello," he said cheerfully to the two surprised men, holding out a hand to help Zoe. "I'm the Doctor."

"Ah." The oriental man nodded. "I'm Harry. That's Don. We had a feeling we might be seeing you at some point."

Zoe grabbed a chair and held it threateningly. "Don't think you're going to stop us! You must be mad to be working with the Cybermen!"

"Oh we don't want to stop you," Don said hastily, holding his hands up in defence. "We want to help!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"See, we're not working for the Cybermen out of our own free will," Harry said. "When they first came here, we didn't know they were bad. They said the chipping was an Earth Control census thing."

"It would be a horrible invasion of civil liberties, even if it didn't control people" the Doctor said crossly.

Don shrugged. "The colony was chipped when they settled here and everybody's been chipped since. We thought it was just an upgrade. Anyway," he continued as the Doctor was shocked into silence. "Then they unleashed that horrible flu to do it. And then our colleague, Nigel, found out that they were turning the dead bodies into Cybermen and confronted them. And they killed him."

Harry nodded sadly. "We don't like what they're doing, but we figured we could do more to stop them alive, rather than dead."

"So what have you done?" Zoe asked, looking cross. "It doesn't seem like an awful lot to me. If it wasn't for the Doctor, they'd be converting people to Cybermen right his minute."

"Well they've been standing guard over us," Harry said defensively. "And YOU made them put their plans into action early. They weren't planning to start the conversion until 95 of the population were chipped, we'd have had time to finish our plan!"

"And what exactly is your plan, if you don't mind me asking?" the Doctor asked calmly.

Harry glanced at Don, who nodded. "We've been writing a computer virus to attack the Cybermen," he said in a hushed tone, glancing around as if he expected a Cyberman to jump out of the corner. "Most of the ones here are dead flu victims who've been converted and they still have head chips. We're trying to get it to reactivate the chips and self destruct. Only we haven't perfected it yet. We don't want it to attack the controlled people and kill them too."

"That actually sounds like a good plan," Zoe said grudgingly. "May I see how far you've gotten?"

"Oh go on," the Doctor said as Don and Harry exchanged wary glances. "Zoe's a computer genius. She may be able to help."

Grudgingly, Don stood up and offered her his seat. "This is what we've got so far," he told her, bringing up a screen of commands. "Once activated, it'll attack their respiratory and nervous systems, shutting them down, before attacking the brain around them."

"Well, what you've done is mostly correct," the Doctor reassured him, gazing at the screen.

"I can see a few very silly mistakes, but overall, it's not bad," Zoe agreed, erasing a few characters and replacing them.

"Thanks," Harry said, puffing up his chest in manly pride. "It took us five weeks to write."

Zoe was about to comment on what a long time that was, when suddenly, the lights flickered and lit up. "They've got the power back on!" she cried. "They'll be able to start converting again!"

The Doctor rushed over to her side. "Stop the signal that's controlling the people! And… and sound the fire alarm! That should get people out of the building."

/\/\/\

Everyone looked around, bewildered, trying to work out where they were and what was going on. Before they could gather their wits, the alarms began ringing. Sure that something terrible was happening, people began screaming and running.

Somewhere near the operating theatres, Jamie found himself in the middle of a crowd of similarly disorientated people. His immediate thought was to find Zoe and the Doctor, but before he could move, a Cyberman appeared in front of him and grabbed his arm. He gasped in pain as the bones ground together. The people around him began to scream and panic at the sight of the metal monster.

The Cyberman ignored the people and dragged Jamie towards a theatre. He struggled uselessly, despite the bone-crushing pain.

Inside the sterile whiteness of the theatre was another Cyberman and a large piece of shiny equipment that looked like an operating table with restraints. Jamie had a nasty suspicion as to its purpose. "You'll no' turn me into a Cyberman! The Doctor will stop you!"

"You are our hostage. You are a friend of the Doctor. He will surrender or you will be converted," the Cyberman holding him said.

"Oh aye? You really think he'll believe you won't turn me into one of you if he gives himself up?" Jamie asked suspiciously.

The Cyberman almost shrugged. "We are willing to negotiate. If he will allow us to create our army, we will let you go free."

"He'll no' let you turn all those people into Cybermen," he said defiantly. "And I wouldnae let him anyway."

The Cyberman began to drag him towards the conversion equipment. "Then you will become one of us."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Down in the secret room, the phone rang. Don, Harry, Zoe and the Doctor exchanged puzzled looks, and then Don reached out and picked up the handset. "Y'ello?" He listened for a few seconds and then held the handset towards the Doctor. "It's for you."

The Doctor lifted the phone to his ear. "Er… this is the Doctor, how may I help you?"

"Doctor. We have you companion, James." The monotonous voice of a Cyberman echoed slightly down the line.

"Jamie," the Doctor corrected. Zoe grabbed his arm in concern and leaned it, trying to listen in on the conversation. The Doctor batted her away gently. "I take it you didn't just call to let me know that."

"You and your female companion will surrender yourselves or he will be converted."

The Doctor nodded slowly. "And what will happen if we do give ourselves up?"

"If you allow us to continue the conversion of our army, we will let you go free."

"Right." The Doctor quickly covered the mouthpiece. "Zoe, how long do you think it'll take to finish the virus?" he whispered.

"Give me thirty seconds," Zoe hissed back before darting back to the computer.

"All right," the Doctor said down the phone. "We agree. But first, I want to know if Jamie's all right. Put him on the phone."

There was a pause, and then Jamie's voice echoed tentatively down the line. "Hello?"

"Ah, Jamie! Good to hear from you," the Doctor said cheerfully. "Are you OK? Have they hurt you at all?"

"Well, mah arm's a wee bit sore, but other than that…"

"Good. Right, now don't do anything rash. We'll be there soon."

"You're not going to give yourself up, are y'?!" The Doctor winced and held the phone away from his ear as Jamie shouted at him. "Y' know they'll no' let us go, y' cannae-"

"Calm down, Jamie!" the Doctor interrupted sharply. "Just trust me."

There was a pause, then a sigh. "All right."

"Good. Now put the Cyberman back on, there's a good lad." He waited for a moment. "So, do you want us to come to you, or are you going to send us an escort?"

"You will go to the corridor outside the morgue. A Cyberman will be waiting to escort you."

"Very well. Bye bye, see you-" He stopped and held out the phone so the other could hear the dial tone. "That's the problem with Cybermen, they have absolutely no manners."

"Finished!" Zoe said triumphantly.

"Excellent," the Doctor congratulated, rushing over to her. "Run it then."

"Oh it needs to compile first," she said.

"You said you'd have it done in thirty seconds!"

"I did!" she protested. "The code's all finished, it just needs to convert to a binary format."

"Well how long is that going to take?!" he asked urgently.

She glanced at the screen. "Five minutes and fifteen seconds."

"But the Cybermen are expecting us now," the Doctor said frantically. "Oh heavens!"

"They're not expecting us," Don pointed out. "Play for time, and we can run the program as soon as it's finished."

"All right." The Doctor handed them the X-ray machines. "You'd better take one of these too, they may try to get in once we leave."

/\/\/\

The Doctor and Zoe tiptoed across the empty morgue and cautiously pushed the door ajar. Immediately, it was flung open and a Cyberman pointed a Cyberlaser at them. "You will come with me."

"Yes, all right, there's no need to snap," the Doctor said.

The Cyberman turned and marched down the corridor. Zoe and the Doctor exchanged glances and then began to follow it. "What should we do?" Zoe hissed quietly.

"Play for time," the Doctor muttered back. He glanced upwards as screams echoed down the stairwell. "Hopefully the panic will hinder us."

The Cyberman stopped in front of a lift and jabbed the button. The doors opened. "Enter," it commanded, pointing the Cyberlaser at them.

"Oh no, not the lift, I'm terribly claustrophobic," the Doctor protested.

"It's true," Zoe agreed. "He gets hysterical in small spaces."

"Enter," the Cyberman repeated.

The Doctor sighed and looked forward apprehensively. "Oh no. Oh dear. Zoe, hold my hand. Oh my goodness! No! No!" he cried theatrically, dropping to his knees in the doorway. "The walls are closing in on me! Help! We'll all plummet and die!"

"There there, Doctor," Zoe said soothingly. "It's all right, you're safe. We're in a hospital, remember? Think happy thoughts."

"It's not safe! Oh Zoe, get me out of here! I can't do it! Argh! No! The walls!" he wailed, grabbing the edges of the doors as the Cyberman attempted to drag him inside.

"Oh dear, this really isn't going to work," Zoe said, patting his back and gazing up imploringly at the Cyberman. "It really would be much easier to take the stairs."

The Cyberman ignored her and eventually managed to grab the Doctor's wrists and pull him inside. "You will tend to him," he ordered Zoe.

Zoe scowled and slumped down on the ground next to the Doctor. "Well that didn't work."

"It brought us a little time," the Doctor reassured her. "Oh heavens, the walls!" he suddenly shouted, scooting backwards.

Zoe jumped violently. "What was that for?!"

The Doctor ignored her and glanced up at the control panel. Carefully, he pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. "The cable will break! We'll all be crushed!"

Zoe glanced up at the Cyberman, which had its back to them and inched closer to the Doctor. "There there. It's all right. Breathe deeply and think of… of kittens and rainbows. "

The lift stopped and the doors slid open. Hastily, the Doctor shoved the sonic screwdriver back in his pocket. The Cyberman turned and pointed the Cyberlaser at them again. "Out."

"Damn." The Doctor reluctantly hauled himself to his feet and held a hand out to Zoe.

Zoe reached out, pulled herself up halfway, then hesitated and deliberately let her foot slip underneath her. "Ow! My ankle!"

"Oh my! Are you all right?" the Doctor asked urgently, pulling her to her feet.

"Ow. No. Ow ow ow." She hopped up and down and rubbed her foot. "It's these silly heels. Ow."

"Here, let me help-ow!" Evidently tired of waiting, the Cyberman grabbed the Doctor and Zoe by the wrists and began to pull them down the now-deserted corridor. "Really, there's no need to be so rough!" the Doctor protested.

With a final push, he fell through a set of double doors and landed on the floor in an undignified heap. A moment later, there was a squeal and Zoe landed beside him. The Doctor climbed to his feet, helped Zoe up and brushed his frock coat down indignantly.

In the operating theatre, two Cybermen stood either side of a sterile table, upon which Jamie was strapped. He smiled ruefully at his friends and wiggled his fingers. "I'd wave if I could."

"Ok… we're here, we surrender," the Doctor said, raising his hands. "Now let him go."

"Once we have regained control of these citizens and resumed conversion. Then you will be released."

"Will y' at least let me out o' this thing then?" Jamie asked hopefully. He looked upwards at the array of blades and lasers in apprehension. "Please?"

The Cybermen ignored him. One of them moved over to a control panel and began pushing buttons.

"Er… what are you doing?" the Doctor asked nervously.

"The systems must be restarted and realigned in preparation for conversion," the Cyberman explained.

The knives above Jamie suddenly whirred into life, and the arm of the machine holding them began to move towards his head. He squeaked in terror and tried in vain to twist himself free of his bonds. Just as suddenly as they'd started, they stopped. "OK, OK. Y' said you'd let me go, let me go!" he pleaded.

"It's all right, Jamie, I think it's just… moving into position." The Doctor eyed the apparatus with equal apprehension. "Although it would reassure us if you let him go."

"Cybermen report resistance from the control room. This is your doing. You have broken your side of the bargain."

Zoe and the Doctor backed up hurriedly as the Cybermen levelled their weapons at them. "Oh no, it's not our fault!" the Doctor protested. "Maybe the door's just stuck?"

Zoe clutched at his arm in panic as the Cyberman turned back to the control panel. "The program will have compiled by now, what's taking so long?!" she whispered urgently. "Do something!"

"They must be busy trying to hold out the Cybermen," the Doctor whispered back. He reached into the folds of his coat and felt for the spare X-ray machine.

But before he could switch it on, the two Cybermen flanking Jamie stumbled forward. "Look Doctor, it's working!" Zoe cried.

One of them howled an electronic whine and clutched its head, the other slumped to its knees as smoke began to rise from its chest panel. The Cyberman at the control panel spun round with its weapon pointed at them, then dropped it and clawed at its head, screeching loudly. Then suddenly, their heads exploded in unison.

Zoe limped over to Jamie's side, coughing and waving smoke out of the way. "Are you all right?"

"Aye, I'm fine." He nodded up at the conversion apparatus. "I'd really like to get off of this thing now."

/\/\/\

A few days later, Jamie stood in front of the hotel mirror, examining himself carefully. "Are y' quite sure ye cannae see the scar?"

"As sure as I was when you asked ten minutes ago," the Doctor replied, bored. "And ten minutes before that."

"And y' definitely sure there's no more wee bits o' metal in me?"

"See for yourself." Zoe held out a CAT scan printout. "No metal anywhere. No chips, no switches, no robots."

Jamie looked at the printout in interest. "This is my brain? What's this wee green bit here?"

"Oh, that's your logical thinking," Zoe told him. "And this pink bit here, that's where you're thinking about food. And this big yellow blob is where you keep all your naughty thoughts about girls-" She started laughing as he snatched it away from he, scowling.

"Don't be mean, Zoe," the Doctor said mildly. "Or we'll scan your head and see how many naughty thoughts you have."

Jamie looked hopeful. "Can we?"

"No. The hospital has enough to deal with at the moment with everybody else's chips," the Doctor said. "Still, at least they don't have to worry about the flu anymore. Don and Harry have enough of the cure for Reg to replicate if it should pop up again. Now then!" He clapped his hands together, making his companions jump. "I think it's time we were on our way. We could do with a nice holiday…"

The End


End file.
